The Blueboot which left Nickerie for Apoera around 8 p.m. last Friday has sunk. There were about 30 adults and 3 babies on onboard the vessel. The Maritime Police and the National Army happened to be on the river when the boat started to sink. They and other boat owners and fishermen rushed to the scene to save the passengers and a portion of the cargo before bringing them to the landing stage at Visserij Post Amsterdam in Waldeck.
Akash Jagroep who is a local entrepreneur deployed his boats after District Commissioner Senrita Gobardhan had asked him for assistance. Most of the food products that were onboard were lost. Fortunately all of the passengers were rescued. The gasoline and gas cylinders that were onboard were removed.
DC Josta Lewis made it clear that “something like this must never happen again.”
In August the Maritime Authority Suriname (MAS) made it clear to the boat owner in Kabalebo that people and cargo had to be transported separately. The MAS always made sure that this did not happen but last Friday the MAS was not present to carry out the inspection so the captain decided to also transport passengers.
The Blueboot is a boat from Separuta, a village located in neighboring Guyana. Reports indicate that there also were not enough life vests on board. DC Lewis and DC Gobardhan are grateful that people were eager to lend a helping hand to the passengers…[+]